Worth Fighting For
by Blizzard96
Summary: Steve Rogers, the new camper, meets lots of interesting characters at Camp Half-Blood. Hopefully he'll make some new friends if he can manage to retain his sanity. AU where the Avengers are all demigods. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or the Avengers.**

Chapter 1: Welcome to the Family

"Hail Steve Rogers, son of Hermes, the god of messengers, thieves and travel," Chiron intoned solemnly. The timid blonde kid at Chiron's side fidgeted nervously under all the stares he was receiving. His stomach did flip flops as a red-haired girl fixed him with a calculating stare, eyeing him up and down. Steve felt himself flush. He'd been pretty scrawny his entire life and having a beautiful girl evaluate his slightly... Lacking form did nothing for his self-esteem.

Luck obviously wasn't on Steve's side, as Chiron pushed him towards the girl while he stuttered a protest. He straightened up before her but avoided her eyes.

"H-hello ma'am," Steve said, extending his hand and trying to remember all the manners his mother had drilled into him. The girl just stared at his hand until he nervously retracted it, his face coloring further.

Chiron seemed not to notice the awkward exchange. "Natasha, please show Steve around camp and then to his cabin. Natasha is our temporary Head Counselor for Cabin 6 as the current counselor, Annabeth, is away on a quest." The girl, Natasha, nodded to Chiron and strode to the doors causing Steve to stumble after her.

Natasha walked at a brisk, militaristic pace, one that Steve could barely keep up with.

"So," Steve said, awkwardly trying to start a conversation. "What cabin is Cabin 6?"

"Athena," was Natasha's curt reply. Steve reasoned that made sense. Natasha looked both intelligent and able to kill him without breaking a sweat.

"Um," Steve struggled for another topic.

"Stables." Natasha cut him off, pointing to a building off in the distance. Steve could see unicorns and pegasi milling around while campers fed them hay and vegetables. Steve had never really excelled at caring for animals, so he decided to avoid the stables as much as possible.

He was yanked out of his idle thoughts as Natasha set off again without warning, forcing him to sprint after her. They trudged through the field for a while, Steve asking a few questions with Natasha giving short one or two word answers.

Their next stop was the archery range that the Apollo kids were currently using. The Head Counselor of the Apollo cabin, a serious looking blonde, broke away to meet them.

"Who's this?" He asked gruffly, eyeing Steve like Natasha had earlier. Steve imagined he heard a hint of jealousy in the camper's tone.

"New camper. Hermes," Natasha replied. The two then had a silent conversation, during which Steve grew increasingly uncomfortable, until they both seemed to reach an agreement and the blonde jogged back to the range.

"Er, who was that?" Steve asked hesitantly.

"Clint Barton. Head counselor for Apollo cabin."

"Are you two...?" Steve questioned.

"No!" Was Natasha's emphatic reply, startling the Hermes camper.

"Right, sorry," Steve said hastily, throwing his hands up in defense. Was it his imagination or were her cheeks pink? He certainly wasn't imagining how her eyes had followed the Apollo camper as he left. Steve smothered his grin in time to watch Natasha's form retreat at a rapid rate. "Hey! Wait!"

Natasha showed him the docks (Steve admitted he wasn't very good at rowing) and led him down to the strawberry fields. Apparently, the red head was beginning to relax as she started to use complete sentences instead of her usual sharp replies.

"These are the fields. We sell strawberries to support our income. You may have to work in the fields a bit, but it's not too bad," Natasha said. Steve nodded absently, more focused on memorizing the plant's forms so he could draw it later.

They trudged onward to a dirty building that looked like a factory and constantly spewed smoke out the top.

"This is the forge," Natasha began. "You can make weapons and armor-"

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" A voice yelled, abruptly cutting Natasha off.

Steve barely had a second to react before something slammed into him and he was knocked to the ground.

Seconds later, a loud booming noise came from the building and the very ground seemed to shake from the force of the explosion. Steve heard the groan of metal bending and smelled something vaguely sulfurous.

The camper groaned as he rolled over. Once his eyes focused, Steve found that what had hit him earlier was another boy about his age.

The other teen had dark brown hair and was covered head to toe in soot and grime. Despite that, he had a huge smile on his face and began shaking Steve back and forth.

"Wasn't that awesome?! Did you see how big that explosion was?!" The grinning teen cried excitedly, trying to get a response out of Steve.

"I- er- what?" Steve said, fighting the urge to throw up as the dark haired boy gave him whiplash.

Natasha inadvertently saved the shaken camper when she got up a moment later. "TONY STARK!" She yelled. The brown haired boy, Tony, flinched.

"Aw crap," he muttered, running a hand through his messed up hair. "Yes, Natasha?"

"What on Earth were you thinking?!" She demanded. Steve backed away from the one sided argument as Tony was forced to apologize profusely to the fuming red head.

"What did Tony do this time?" Steve jumped at the voice behind him. He whirled around to find another brown haired boy staring at the situation with an attitude of amusement.

"Uh, he blew something up in the forge," Steve responded.

"Really? Must be a Tuesday," the other boy mused. His eyes then flicked back to Steve. "Oh, but I don't think I know you." The brunette studied Steve curiously. Steve was starting to get sick of how everyone stared at him like he was a zoo exhibit.

"New camper," Steve said, forcing himself to be polite. "My name is Steve Rogers, son of Hermes." He extended his hand to the brunette.

"Bruce Banner, son of Ares," the other camper replied, shaking Steve's hand. Natasha seemed to be done scolding Tony as the two of them were walking towards Bruce and Steve.

"Bruce," Natasha said, inclining her head in greeting.

"Natasha," Bruce replied, a small smirk on his face.

"Hi Bruce!" Tony yelled, knocking the air out of the other camper with a bone crushing hug while beaming.

"Tony...can't...breathe," Bruce manage to pant out. Tony's grip seemed to slacken a little, but he still clung to the taller boy. Tony then fixed his eyes on Steve.

"Who're you?" Tony asked bluntly. Steve met Tony's eyes and realized the brunette was a lot smarter than he let on. He could see intelligence hidden under the other teen's cheerful disposition.

"Steve Rogers, son of Hermes," he said, introducing himself yet again.

Tony grinned at this. "The name's Tony Stark! I'm a son of Hephaestus! And this is Bruce!"

"We've met," Steve replied.

"As difficult as it is for anyone to believe, Tony is the temporary Head Counselor of Hephaestus cabin while their current counselor, Leo, is on a quest," Bruce said, extracting himself from Tony's grip.

"But Bruce is probably strong enough to be Head Counselor of his cabin," Tony told Steve. "He's the only one I've seen besides Clarisse to receive the blessing of Ares AND he can turn it off and on at will!"

"Actually," Bruce protested, looking embarrassed, "I can't really control it. It just happens when I get angry..."

"But the quest you guys were talking about," Steve stated, returning to the earlier subject, "Is that the one that the Head Counselor of Athena went on?"

"Yup!" Tony replied cheerfully. "Actually, a lot of people are on that quest! Jason Grace, Head Counselor of Zeus cabin, Piper McLean, Head Counselor of Aphrodite cabin, Leo Valdez, Head Counselor of the awesomest cabin ever, and Annabeth Chase, Athena Head Counselor are all on that trip. You could say we're a little understaffed at the moment."

"What's the quest for?" Steve asked curiously.

"They're trying to make friends with Romans and find Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon," Tony replied, beginning to get bored with the subject.

"As wonderful as making friends is," Natasha cut in. "Steve needs to finish the tour." They said their goodbyes (Tony pouted and Bruce waved in a friendly manner) and Natasha began leading Steve towards the armory.

"What do you prefer to fight with?" Natasha asked casually when they arrived, as if they were discussing the weather. Steve blinked.

"Well, I haven't really used a weapon before." Natasha sized him up.

"Maybe a sword," she muttered, beginning to sort through various blades. A glint of metal caught Steve's eye and he went over to a dusty table to pick up a large circular shield.

"This thing is huge," he muttered, lifting it and marveling at how light it was before tracing his fingers over the Greek writing around the edges. Natasha lifted her head from the dagger she was examining.

"That's an unusual choice," Natasha said slowly, staring at Steve with and odd expression. "You'll need a sword or something too."

"I think I'll be fine with just this," Steve replied with a slightly detached voice. For some reason, the shield seemed to just connect with him.

Natasha shrugged. "It's you're funeral," she said, leaving the armory while Steve strapped the shield to his back. They then started towards the cabins.

"You'll be in Cabin 12," Natasha said, pointing to a large cabin on the end. "The twelve cabins arranged in a U belong to the Olympians. The others belong to minor gods like Nike and Hecate. The unclaimed all stay in that cabin over there." She pointed to a nondescript cabin.

"Anything else I should know?" Steve asked, glancing up at his cabin.

"Yes. You're going to lose at capture the flag tonight," Natasha replied before leaving him standing in front of his cabin.

Not a minute later, a dark haired figure exited the Hermes cabin and strode up to Steve. It turned out to be a teen a bit older than Steve and grinning slightly.

"Hope Natasha didn't scare you too much," the teen said. "She can be a bit... Harsh at times. But where are my manners? My name is Phil Coulson and I'm the Head Counselor of Hermes cabin." He shook Steve's hand.

"Steve Rogers."

"Nice to meet you, Steve. We're actually going to dinner soon, so just hang here for a minute." Steve waited patiently as the rest of his cabin filed out and then followed them to dinner.

Hermes cabin sat at their own table and when the food came out, Phil explained how they made sacrifices to the gods. Steve shuffled awkwardly before muttering his father's name and dumping a large portion of beef into the fire.

"Hey, why are those kids eating alone?" Steve asked, looking at two kids who were alone at different tables.

Phil looked up from his food to see who Steve was talking about. "Oh, well the blonde teen is Thor, son of Zeus, and the teen with black hair is Loki, son of Hades. Sometimes there's another kid, Nico diAngelo, at Hades table, but he tends to disappear for long periods of time. I don't think Nico even knows Loki is here. Thor and Loki arrived at the same time about a month ago. It was huge at the time because the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades that is, aren't supposed to have any children according to the agreement they made at the end of World War II."

Steve nodded but continued to stare at the two boys. The blonde one, Thor, frequently glanced at the other like a protective older brother would. Loki, however, just stared at his plate and pushed his food around with his fork.

"So what's capture the flag about?" Steve asked, finally tearing his eyes away from the two boys. "Is it like normal capture the flag?"

Phil grinned. "Yeah, but we get to use weapons," he said, laughing as Steve's eyes widened. "Tonight, Hermes cabin is allied with Hephaestus, Ares, Zeus, Hades and some minor gods like Nike and Iris while the other team is Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Dionysus and Demeter along with minor gods such as Hecate."

Steve gulped. "My mom did say camp would be a good character building experience."

**A/N: Woo hoo and we're off on another fanfic! :D So this is yet another one I've started because the plot bunnies wouldn't leave me alone... I hope you enjoyed it ^_^ I was just wondering one day what cabins all the Avengers would be in and... this happened. ^_^'**

**Er, pay no attention to all the other unfinished fanfics behind the curtain... *sweatdrops* I swear I'll get to them soon... Maybe... :P**

**Anyways, please leave a review so I can know whether or not I should continue this fic! :D Constructive criticism is appreciated, but please no outright flaming! Thanks! **


	2. Chapter 2: Leave out all the rest

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers or Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

Chapter 2: Leave out all the rest

"You're sure this is completely safe, right?" Steve asked as he nervously adjusted his armor. His chest plate kept slipping despite all his efforts to secure it in place.

"Absolutely," Phil replied, passing the new camper a blue plumed helmet. "Well, mostly. We haven't had any casualties in at least three weeks. That's a camp record!" Steve felt his anxiety grow as he wondered for the millionth time what he'd gotten himself into.

To distract himself, Steve glanced around at the other campers who were also getting ready for Capture the Flag. The blonde teen from earlier was trying to cheer up the dark haired one, and based on the other teen's scowl he wasn't doing a very good job.

"Those two were Thor and Loki, right?" Steve asked. He watched the blonde exclaim something loudly only for the black haired one to respond with a cutting tone.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. They haven't really adjusted to camp life yet," Phil replied absently as he tried to organize random pieces of equipment. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know," Steve said, shrugging. "Loki just seems kind of familiar."

"Well, I would say he looks a little like his brother Nico diAngelo, but you don't really know Nico either," Phil said, frowning. Steve tilted his head as he turned the name 'Nico diAngelo' around in his brain. It sounded familiar…

Flashes of a brightly lit building, colorful games and a long zip line all presented themselves to Steve before disappearing just as quickly and leaving a throbbing headache. Steve grunted and leaned against a tree as he tried to make the pain go away.

"Hey, are you okay?" Phil rushed over looking concerned.

"Fine," Steve grit out through his teeth. He massaged his temples to try and make the pain subside. Phil gave him a long look and Steve tried to smile and reassure him. The older camper wasn't buying it.

"Go see Bruce. He's our medic," Phil ordered before jogging over to a group of campers who were struggling to adjust their armor. Steve sighed and stumbled to his feet to look for the son of Ares. He found him in a one-sided conversation with Tony, the exuberant inventor being the one doing all the talking. They both looked up as Steve approached them.

"Not looking so good there, hot shot," Tony said with a grin upon seeing Steve. Steve winced. Was it really that obvious?

"What's wrong, Steve?" Bruce asked, examining the son of Hermes for external wounds.

"Do you have anything for headaches?" Steve asked, gritting his teeth as the throbbing in his head intensified.

"I can try and find some Advil or ambrosia," Bruce replied, starting to dig through his bag.

"Advil?" Steve frowned, the word foreign on his lips. "Is that some kind of new medicine?" Tony and Bruce both froze and gazed at Steve with shock.

"Advil's been around since 1984, Steve," Bruce said slowly.

"Did you grow up under a rock?" Tony gaped at the embarrassed son of Hermes. "Gods, I hate to think about what kind of childhood you had without Advil." The son of Hephaestus shook his head. Steve cursed himself for his slip-up.

"Way to go, Steve," he muttered. Whatever happened to his earlier goal of seamlessly assimilating to the camp? He couldn't let any of the others know the truth or else…

"You say something?" Bruce asked, returning to his search.

"No," Steve replied, snapping out of his internal monologue.

"Anyways, here's some nectar," Bruce said, holding up a canteen of golden liquid. "Don't drink too much." Steve nodded gratefully and downed the liquid, tasting his mom's baking, and immediately felt his headache fade.

"So, why didn't you know what Advil was?" Tony asked, not about to let the earlier topic fade, much to Steve's dismay.

"I think I heard Phil say something," Steve lied quickly.

"I didn't hear anything," Tony protested, crossing his arms. "Hey! I'm talking to you don't ignore me!" It was too late, Steve was already striding away as fast as he could. "There's something wrong with that guy, and I'm gonna figure out what," he heard Tony say before he was out of range.

~~~~~The Forest~~~~~

"Alright, so since this is your first game," Phil was explaining. "We're just going to have you on guard duty. The fact that you have that huge shield will help." Steve nodded and resigned himself to the 'very important' job of guarding the flag, though a more accurate description might be 'sitting around and waiting on the off chance something actually happens'. He could hear yelling and fighting in the woods, but the closest battle was probably a hundred yards away.

"I can't believe I'm stuck with you two," Tony groused, sitting down heavily on a rock. "I NEVER get stuck on guard duty! The other campers will be lost without my genius battle strategies and weapons!" Steve rolled his eyes but wisely decided not to interject. He was rewarded when Tony decided to gripe to Bruce instead, as Steve was proving not to be very interesting.

"I'm glad we're guards," Bruce said lightly. "I don't really like fighting."

"That's not a very Ares-like thing to say," Tony teased. Bruce shifted uncomfortably, still a bit awkward about his parentage.

"It's not like I wanted the blessing in the first place," he protested. Tony rolled his eyes.

"I would be pretty happy if I suddenly had the ability to bulldoze a monster army without breaking a sweat. Instead what can I do? I build things. I mean, it was bad enough Leo took the magic tool belt with him, but now there's no one else to work with in the forges because Jake is incapacitated and the rest of the cabin still thinks there's a curse!"

"There has to be some kind of downside," Bruce reasoned, ignoring Tony's rant against his cabin mates. "I mean, look at Clarisse. She got the blessing too, and her aura was red. RED. My blessing is green. Tell me there isn't something at least a little off about that."

"Whatever, dude," Tony said, shrugging off Bruce's argument. "I'm just saying…" Steve found himself smiling at their conversation despite his best efforts at trying not to eavesdrop. He could hardly be blamed; Tony talked loud enough to wake every monster in the forest. Bruce's head suddenly shot up, startling the Hermes camper. He instinctively raised his shield.

"They're coming," Bruce muttered, nervously tugging at his armor.

"Oh, hells yes!" Tony cried, grinning. "Go out there and smash 'em up! Turn on your green aura blessing thing!" he said, pushing Bruce forward. Bruce protested loudly, though his cries fell on deaf ears. A group of red plumed warriors suddenly burst out of the trees about twenty feet away.

"Charge!" the leader yelled, rallying the other troops. The large group raced forward at the three defenders, brandishing their spears and swords.

With a sudden flash of light, Steve saw Bruce's entire demeanor change. The Ares camper's expression twisted to one of pure rage and a green aura shimmered into existence. Bruce drew his sword with a roar and advanced as well, taking on five advancing campers at once. Steve watched as the Ares camper swung his sword with immense power, sending one of the attackers flying into the trees.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Tony crowed, sitting back down on the rock and fiddling with a contraption he had strapped on his arm.

"What are you doing?! We need some help here!" Steve yelled, trying to guard the flag from the few who had slipped past Bruce. Unfortunately, while his shield proved to be a nice blockade, it didn't have many attack options.

"Don't be so uptight," Tony said, rolling his eyes while flipping random switches. "And… done!" The dark-haired teen grinned widely when the machine shot out a green bolt of Greek fire at advancing campers. Many of the attackers were forced to ditch their armor as the green flames clung to them. One of the younger ones ran around screaming while his helmet flamed. Tony found this all immensely amusing as he was doubled over laughing.

"Watch where you aim that thing!" Steve yelled. He'd barely managed to duck in time to avoid the blast. Tony gave him a cocky salute before firing the weapon repeatedly at other campers.

Steve ground his teeth together before attempting to knock other campers down using his shield. No matter how many he'd knock back with a blow, more seemed to pour out of the woods. Exhaustion was beginning to creep up on him and he hoped his team would claim the flag before their defense crumbled.

Suddenly, there was a loud yell and Steve watched someone fly over the camper's heads just before a bolt of lightning slammed into the ground, scattering the other team's formation. Soon afterwards, the ground shook and cracked open allowing skeletal warriors to crawl out. The skeleton army engaged the red plumed campers, a dark purplish black flame swirling in each skeleton's empty eye sockets. The remaining campers on the other team beat a hasty retreat into the forest while yelling many unkind four letter words and glancing nervously over their shoulders to ensure the skeletons didn't follow.

"'Bout time you got here, Sparky," Tony grinned. Thor just looked confused.

"I do not understand that name, Man of Iron. I am called Thor," The son of Zeus replied.

" 'Man of Iron'?" Steve asked. Tony just rolled his eyes.

"It's 'cause I'm a son of Hephaestus," he responded.

"That was quite boring," Loki said, emerging from the woods with a frown on his face. The ground reopened to swallow the skeleton army. "They hardly put up a fight." Steve involuntarily shivered at the son of Hades' calm demeanor. When the last of the skeletons had disappeared from view, Bruce's green aura dimmed and he looked less likely to rip someone's head off.

"Shouldn't the game be over by now?" Bruce asked, frowning. Before anyone could respond, the horn conveniently blew in the distance to signify the capture of the other team's flag.

"Guess that answers that," Steve said, shrugging. The four blue team members jogged back to the dinner area to find a Nemesis camper holding the banner.

"Who's that?" Steve asked Bruce. The camper was African American, had shaved his head and wore an eye patch over his right eye.

"I think his name is Nick," the son of Ares replied, squinting at the figure. "He's a child of Nemesis." Steve just shivered at the cold look in the camper's eye. Despite the fact that he'd won the game for his team, Nick didn't look thrilled about it and he just radiated 'don't touch me' vibes.

"So what do we do now that it's over?" Steve wondered, glancing at the older campers.

"I guess you should just try and find Phil," Bruce replied, eyes roving over the dining pavilion.

"Do it fast," Tony grinned. "The harpies will be making their rounds soon." He nodded towards the growling cleaning harpies who bitterly eyed the campers. Steve gulped and said a quick goodbye to Tony and Bruce before scurrying off.

…Only to run right into Natasha.

"You just got lucky," she stated, eyes boring into Steve.

"H-huh?" came Steve's intelligent reply. She looked ready to disembowel someone.

"The win," she tilted her head in the direction of the dining area where Nick was being presented with laurels. "That was just luck. Don't get cocky."

"Y-yes, ma'am," Steve nodded vigorously. Natasha gave him one final glare before heading in the direction of the Athena cabin. Steve suppressed a small grin when he saw Clint meet the Athena camper halfway and receive a kick in the groin for his trouble.

"Looks like you're making friends fast!" Steve jumped as Phil suddenly materialized behind him. Said counselor just grinned at his response.

"Natasha was acting friendly?" Steve asked in a disbelieving tone. Phil nodded.

"Usually she either ignores the new campers or breaks their limbs," the counselor stated cheerfully. Steve internally groaned. The lighthearted scene was disrupted when they both heard a loud shriek from the dining pavilion. Phil and Steve didn't even need to look at each other before they both raced back to the crowded area, only to see the Oracle of Delphi, Rachel Dare, collapsed on the ground.

"What happened?" Phil questioned, already moving towards the fallen girl. He helped her sit up, but reeled backwards when green smoke poured from Rachel's mouth. Rachel sat stiffly and her eyes glowed an eerie green. Her voice sounded amplified and like multiple versions of herself was speaking at the same time.

"_Seven more halfbloods must find the door's leaks,_

_ In doing so, heal the rift between Romans and Greeks,_

_ Alas, betrayal and secrets shall drive them apart,_

_ All that remains of the seven is seven broken hearts._"

As soon as Rachel finished delivering the prophecy, she fell back to the ground as Phil yelled for someone to bring water. Steve stood frozen, shaken by the unexpected prophecy. Or maybe it was the fact that she seemed to be staring straight at him when she delivered it.

Some of the other campers had also noticed how Rachel seemed to be talking to the new Hermes camper and began whispering while shooting him questioning glances. Steve was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he barely heard them. Perhaps that was how Tony managed to sneak up on him so easily.

"Well, that was a great welcome to camp, eh Steve?" Steve nearly let out a very unmanly noise when the son of Hephaestus slapped him on the back.

"I- er…" Steve babbled, trying to regain his senses.

"Oh, relax," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "She wasn't talking about you. Probably." Steve oddly was not reassured by this. His thoughts were apparently visible on his face as Tony smirked at him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Unless you have something you'd like to share with the class, Steve?" Said son of Hermes tried not to stiffen as Tony would feel his hesitation. Was Tony right? Was his secret the reason the prophecy had been uttered?

Thankfully, Tony withdrew his arm and loped off to find Bruce, allowing Steve to relax. This probably wasn't the best time to let everyone know about THAT. Tony was probably right this time anyways, he was rather ordinary compared to most of the other campers. Fate couldn't possibly be sending him on a dangerous quest. Surely the universe didn't hate him that much…

**A/N: Hello! :D Well, I wasn't really expecting all the kind reviews I got last time, so thank you for that! Also, thanks for all the suggestions you guys made! Hopefully I made the characters a little more in character this time, but I honestly really struggle with writing some of them (I'm looking at you Tony) so I'm sorry for any and all mistakes...**

**Do we actually have a plot now?! Did I actually come up with a rhyme?! Why can't this poetic skills come out in English class? :P Anyways, the story is actually moving forward and next chapter I hope to include some of our favorite Percy Jackson characters if we're lucky~**

**So anyways, please review! Reviews motivate me to continue writing the story! Tell me what you liked/didn't like/have suggestions for! Thanks! :D**


	3. Chapter 3:Secrets

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or the Avengers.**

Chapter 3: Secrets

_Seven more halfbloods must find the doors leaks,_

_In doing so, heal the rift between Romans and Greeks,_

_Alas, betrayal and secrets shall drive them apart,_

_All that remains of the seven is seven broken hearts._

In order to understand the future, we need to know the past.

~~~~~Tony~~~~~

Ten year-old Anthony Stark grinned as he pushed a button on the small handheld remote. He was rewarded when he heard the flapping of mechanical wings in the room over. Barely a second later, screams could be heard issuing from the other room.

"TONY, TURN IT OFF!" A older male voice yelled, followed soon by young girl darting into the room where Tony stood and grabbing the remote from his hands.

"Hey!" the inventor protested. The girl didn't listen and switched off his still-flapping bird-like machine before whirling on Tony, a frown on her face. Tony guessed he should be grateful that she hadn't crushed the machine like she had with his last invention, but it was hard to be glad when she was glaring at him like he'd personally insulted her.

"Mom and Dad told you, no flying toys in the house! You almost broke Dad's television!" She placed her hands on her hips. Tony rolled his eyes.

"You're such a killjoy, Pepper," he complained, snatching his remote and machine from the other girl, despite her firm grip on it. He grinned as she sighed in frustration.

"Why can't you follow the rules?" She asked, a hint of pleading in her tone. "They're gonna send you back to foster care." Her eyes begged him to actually think about how bad that would be.

"Whatever," he scoffed with false bravado. "I've only been here for a few weeks. Who cares?"

"I care," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest. Tony frowned.

"Why? We don't even know each other that well." Pepper blew out a frustrated breath and stomped her foot.

"I still care about you even though you're always a jerkface!" She all but screamed.

"Aw, Pepper," Tony smirked. "You hurt my feelings."

"Ugh, remind me not to try so much for you in the future." Pepper scowled. Tony gave her another smug grin which made her throw her hands up in frustration and stomp out of the room. Once she was out of sight, his grin faded.

"Way to go, Stark," he muttered, absently fiddling with the contraption in his hands. He had arrived at the Potts residence a few weeks ago and, despite his devil-may-care attitude, he genuinely enjoyed the atmosphere and people. Pepper's parents were both very welcoming and understanding and the girl herself was always there for Tony, no matter how much he irritated her. He was breaking all of his own rules that he'd had from a very young age, the first rule being "Don't get attached".

He never lasted very long at foster homes, mainly because of his talent for getting in trouble easily, although he sometimes wasn't responsible for the mess he'd gotten into. He'd bounced around to countless foster homes (the Potts were his 20th, or maybe it was his 30th?) and he was used to packing up his few belongings and moving every now and then. It'd been quite simple to never get too attached to a family. Tony had even run away from a few of the places where either the father had drunk too much or he'd been picked on by the other children. The sarcasm and pranks were all defense mechanisms so he could avoid loneliness and ridicule.

Despite all his efforts to shut himself off from the world, he couldn't help but want to actually try and make things work out with the Potts. They were good people, something that was seemingly scarce these days and different from all his previous homes. No matter what Pepper thought, Tony had actually cut back on his pranks and sarcastic remarks for their sake. It scared the inventor to think he was finally letting himself open up a bit, but he could feel in his gut that these people were trustworthy.

It really was too bad that it all had to end.

As Tony was fiddling with the flying machine in his hands, he felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately bolted upright into high-alert mode and scanned the room, eyes wide. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but he could still feel IT. Somewhere. Watching.

"Not here," Tony muttered, almost pleading with the creature. "Not to these people."

"_Why, Tony, I'm surprised. Did you think you'd actually be allowed to live here happily despite everything you've done?"_ The ancient sounding voice seemed to emanate from the very ground and surround him, like a knife blade running lightly over his skin. Tony clutched his head.

"Please," he begged, still looking for the creature. "These people…they haven't done anything!"

"_Of course they haven't,"_ the being said, its voice seeping into Tony's brain. "_It's you. It's always you. You ruin everything you touch. Everyone you care about. So you really have only yourself to blame."_ The being's presence seemed to fade, as if it was walking out of the room.

"Wait! Come back!" Tony yelled, but the being didn't respond. Seconds later, a loud shrieking was heard from the living room accompanied by the sound of glass shattering and a few sickening thuds. "No," he muttered, running into the room he saw Pepper disappear into. "No no nononono…" He gasped at what he found as his legs gave out.

The furniture was all overturned and several windows were shattered, leaving shards of broken glass everywhere. Apparently, the lightbulbs overhead had also burst, leaving the room only lit by the fading rays of sunlight seeping through the windows. But that's not what scared Tony. It was the people. More specifically, it was Pepper and her parents all lying on the ground, covered in blood.

Tony rushed forward, mindless to the shards of broken glass strewn across the carpet, and knelt down to examine them. The adults seemed to be barely breathing and unconscious, but Pepper was struggling to sit up. He rushed to her and checked for any major wounds. She had a nasty open gash on her stomach that seemed to have been made by the claws of an animal (though Tony knew it was something much more terrifying) and an alarming amount of blood was pouring out.

"Pepper, oh my god, don't worry I'll bandage you up," Tony babbled, helplessly looking around for something, anything, that would slow the bleeding.

"Tony?" she asked, voice weak.

"Yeah, I'm here. Don't talk, I'll find something to stop the blood flow, stop talking," he said, finding a blanket and attempting to both cover her and put pressure on the wound. He fumbled for his cellphone and finally managed to pull it from him pocket.

"Tony," she said, her voice more insistent this time.

"Stop talking, Pepper," he begged, barely managing to dial 911. "Yeah, I've got a really big emergency! There was like a huge…animal. Yeah, animal. People are hurt and maybe dying so we need someone here RIGHT NOW!" He impatiently gave the address to the operator and ended the call, tossing the phone down.

"Lis…ten," she demanded.

"I'm begging you to stop talking and save your strength," Tony said. He realized he was crying now, tears dripping onto his hands while he continued to apply pressure. The boy silently willed the ambulance to drive faster.

"No," she said, still managing to sound stubborn. Despite her current condition, her eyes blazed with determination. "I'm…so…rry," she stated, staring directly into Tony's eyes. The boy felt guilt eating away at him. She was sorry? No, all of this was his fault, so she shouldn't be apologizing. "So…rry," she continued, seemingly reading Tony's mind. "for… lea…ving… you… a… lone."

"What are you talking about? You're not leaving anyone," Tony said, voice shaking. "What about your parents? Are you going to leave them? That's awfully selfish. Look, the medics will be here soon so you have to stay awake a little longer, okay? Please?"

"So…rry… To…ny," she muttered, closing her eyes and beginning to slip in and out of consciousness.

"Oh, god," he said, staring down at her. "Pepper. Pepper! You have to open your eyes! You have to wake up!" He tried to remember anything useful he'd seen on TV, though he doubted the crime shows he watched had little real life application. Chest compressions weren't working and she seemed to be drifting further away. Tony began panicking as her breathing grew softer and he still didn't hear the sirens in the distance. "C'mon, don't give up on me…"

"_It's too late,"_ the voice returned, almost sounding apologetic. Tony felt himself go from sadness to rage.

"This is all your fault! I swear, when I find you I'll kill you!" he yelled to the creature, who still didn't show itself. Tony could've sworn he heard it laugh.

"_You knew this would happen and yet you stayed,_" the creature whispered. "_Their blood is on your hands."_

"No," Tony muttered, though deep down he saw truth in the creature's words. No matter where he ran and hid, the THING would find him. It would find him and hurt everything he cared about. He'd been selfish staying with these people for so long and this incident was his fault. 'This is why we don't get attached,' Tony thought.

Tony's head jerked up as he finally heard the first wail of the sirens. While he was lost in his own thoughts, the creature's presence seemed to have disappeared. Tony stared down at Pepper and her parent's still bodies. Though the creature was gone, it seemed to lurk at the edge of his mind, accusing him: _your fault, your fault, your fault…_

When the medics finally got to the house, Tony was lost inside a pit of self-hatred and despair.

Tony stared blankly forward from the hospital bed, not seeing the white wall and small TV in front of him. He'd spent the night at the hospital so the paramedics could be certain that there'd been no injuries and he could try and process what happened. They'd also informed him that luckily the parents would recover eventually, but Pepper had fallen into a coma. The doctor's all doubted she would wake up. Of course, they never told Tony that, but he could easily read their expressions.

And so, Tony had been stuck in the hospital, staring with unseeing eyes at the TV that was currently playing some commercial for a vacuum cleaner. Or maybe some kind of hedge trimmer. Oh, and he was blaming himself for everything. He cursed himself for getting close. For letting people in, and thereby dooming them. How could he have been so stupid?

Tony was so lost in his self-loathing, his barely registered it when the curtain was drawn back. A tall, handsome blonde man wearing sunglasses stepped forward and ran his eyes over Tony's state. Tony thought that if he could see the man's eyes through the man's shades, they'd be filled with pity for the pathetic boy.

"Not looking so hot there," the man said, causing Tony to flinch. The boy's eyes went up to the older man.

"Who're you?" he asked rudely, not caring about his manners. The man raised his eyebrows.

"How about we show some respect here, kid?" he said, glaring down at the boy. Tony glared right back at him.

"I don't know you. Why should I respect you?"

"Because I'm older than you and I can smite your ungrateful butt to the depths of Tartarus," the man replied, frowning. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Tartarus doesn't even exist." It was the other man's turn to scoff.

"Of course it exists," he said, though his tone was closer to confusion and curiosity than annoyance. "Even you know that much, right?"

"It's a stupid Greek myth," Tony replied. "I read about in a book. It doesn't exist."

"_Di immortales, _that explains a lot," the blonde man said, letting out a sigh. "You mean no one ever told you? I swear Hephaestus told me he sent someone to do that…"

"Told me about what?" Tony asked, frowning and just beginning to process the stranger had sworn in Ancient Greek. Just because he was in the hospital didn't mean his brain had dulled. He silently fumed at the tall blonde and his stupid cryptic answers.

"The gods," the other man said, waving his hand dismissively.

"What gods?" Tony asked, beginning to be suspicious.

"Greek gods. You know, Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, that crowd?" the other man's voice was tinged with disbelief. "You at least know about them, right?"

"Of course I know about them. They aren't real, and they aren't relevant," Tony said, more annoyance creeping into his voice.

"You're a cheeky little brat, aren't ya?" the blonde man muttered. "You'd get along fine with Jackson."

"Look, I'm really not in the mood for this," Tony said, crossing his arms. "Who are you and why are you here?" The other man sighed.

"I go by many names, but you can call me Apollo. As for why I'm here, I need to take you to the camp before your friend shows up."

"Apollo? Like the Greek god?" Tony asked, eyebrows arching. "Man, what were your parents on when they named you? Let me guess, they threw a dart at a mythology book and picked the name it landed on."

"I'm seriously considering smiting you," Apollo snarled.

"And what do you mean I have to go to camp? And who's 'your friend'? Sorry, but I don't have any friends," Tony continued, ignoring the threat.

"Must be because of your charming personality," Apollo snorted. "Look, I'll explain everything on the way, just come with me."

"Oh no," Tony said. "I don't know why the doctor's let you in here, but you can be sure there's no way in… Tartarus I'm going with some strange man I don't even know to an unknown location. That's how kids end up on the evening news."

"Look, brat, I don't want to take you either, but Hephaestus insisted. I need to get you to Camp Half-Blood now."

"Give me one good reason to trust you," Tony said, scowling at the blonde man.

"Because I can take you where the creature can't go," Apollo replied simply. Tony's eyes widened.

"How do you know about that?" he asked quietly, all previous sarcasm gone from his voice.

"Because I know a thing or two about vengeful spirits, and you've got one big nasty one hanging over your head," Apollo replied. "Now you'll come with me unless you want what happened to the Potts to happen to someone else at this hospital or for it to finish what it started."

Tony debated it internally. He finally met Apollo's eyes. "Fine. If you can really go somewhere where it can't, fine." The man nodded and grabbed Tony's hand. An instant later they were setting in a bright red convertible that absolutely glowed in the sunlight and zooming down the street.

"Sweet ride, right?" Apollo asked, grinning at Tony's confused expression.

"That's impossible! We were just in the hospital!" Tony said, watching them zip through the city. His brain tried to comprehend the sheer lack of logic involved in his current predicament.

"If you thought that was impossible," Apollo muttered, tightening his hold on the steering wheel. "You're gonna want to hold on to something." Tony momentarily panicked and fastened his seat belt before gripping the sides of the car for dear life. The blonde man grinned and yanked the steering wheel up. Tony felt his jaw drop as the tires left the ground and they began rising into the air and coasting over the city.

"Oh my god, what is going on?!" Tony gasped, trying to make sense of how they were somehow flying across the sky. It did not compute in his brain and Tony was accomplished understanding the concepts of astrophysics. Hey, he had to do _something_ while he was on the run.

"I said I'd explain, so listen up," Apollo said, glancing at the shocked brunette and pretending that everything was completely normal. "The Greek gods? Real. All those stories from Greek mythology? Real. Monsters? Unfortunately, real also." He said this as if he was commenting on something unremarkable. "That's it. Explanation over."

"You know, I'd usually call that crazy, but since I'm sitting in a flying car I have no room to argue that," Tony sighed. The man looked sympathetic. Not too much later, they touched down in a forest near a large pine tree.

"This is where we part ways, kid," Apollo said. "This pine tree represents the border between the mortal world and Camp Half-blood."

"So what am I supposed to do here?" Tony asked, frowning. He couldn't see much past the border aside from some strawberry fields in the distance.

"Learn to survive, I guess," Apollo said, shrugging. "Oh, and the spirit can't pass these borders; they're sealed by Zeus against monsters." Tony's eyes widened.

"It really can't get in there?" he wondered, eyes darting around nervously. Apollo just nodded.

"Anyways, it was…well, I wouldn't say nice, but it was interesting getting to know you Tony," Apollo said, starting up his car. "By the way, though the creature can't get through the borders, if you leave the borders, you're fair game." The car then began to glow so brightly that Tony had to shut his eyes. When he opened them, the sun god and his convertible were gone.

"Could it have killed him to explain more?" Tony muttered, trudging past the pine tree and hesitating only slightly before beginning a new chapter in his life.

~~~~~Thor & Loki~~~~~

"This is the last straw!" an elder god screamed, slamming his fist down on the table. Odin just glanced at him from his throne with mild annoyance. "Your sons have nearly destroyed an entire wing of the palace! All the priceless paintings almost went up in flames and the servants' quarters were all burned down because of these…these…vandals!" He pointed an accusing finger at two teenage boys. The blonde one had his head lowered in a penitent expression, but the dark-haired one still smirked mischievously.

"And what would you propose as punishment?" Odin asked, weary of of how often this conversation happened.

"Strip them of their powers," the other god said, crossing his arms and glaring at the boys. The blonde's head snapped up.

"Father, I beg you to consider the possible consequences of such an action!" he pleaded.

"I hate to agree with my brother, but this punishment does seem a bit extreme," the dark-haired one frowned, his seemingly permanent smile disappearing. Odin held up his hand to cut off their cries.

"Thor, Loki, it pains me to do this, but you both have left me no other choice," Odin said, getting to his feet. "In the past few months you have caused countless damage to the palace and around Asgard. I expected more from my own sons, but I fear if your personalities are not changed soon, you both will make poor decisions as leaders. Tonight I will discuss with my advisors the best way to restrict your powers and tomorrow you will both be banished to Midgard until you can prove yourselves responsible." His tone and expression left no room for argument. Both Thor and Loki reluctantly bowed and were lead out of the room.

"Midgard, eh?" Loki said as he and Thor walked back towards their rooms. "I haven't been there in a long time."

"Nor I, brother," Thor replied. "What do you believe the inhabitants are like? Do you believe they have changed from our last visit?" Loki just shrugged in response.

"It has been quite a few years since we last interacted with them, almost millennia in their odd way of measuring time," Loki mused. "I guess we'll find out in the morning."

"Thor and Loki," Odin stated. "You shall both face heavy restrictions to your current powers. Thor, your command over lightning will be less powerful and your healing rate will be slowed. Loki, your magic will be restricted to necromancy alone and your healing rate will also be slowed. While on Midgard, neither of you are allowed to reveal that you are of Asgard and you shall both pretend to be of Midgardian descent."

"And where shall we reside?" Thor asked, resigning himself to his fate.

"You shall both visit with the gods of another culture to begin," Odin said. "The beings of Midgard have created their own religions, as I'm sure you both are aware, and we have connections with the beings that currently reside in America."

"It's not those Egyptians, is it?" Loki asked, making a face. "I never got along with Anubis."

"They are known as the Greek gods," Odin continued as if Loki had never spoken. "You will speak with the Olympians, the twelve gods that comprise their main council. And so, with everything being organized, I send you both on your way." Thor bowed and Loki rolled his eyes before the two were teleported away to Midgard.

Thor and Loki both immediately appeared at the bottom of the Empire State Building in full Asgard regalia, frightening quite a few tourists and New York residents. Loki just grinned at all their expressions whereas Thor strode up to one shell-shocked man to ask for directions. Luckily, it WAS New York and many people immediately dismissed it as a movie shoot or some street performance and didn't bother trying to interrogate Thor or Loki for their strange clothing and behavior.

"Can you direct us to the council of the Greek gods?" he asked in his loud, commanding voice. "We have many things to discuss with them concerning our exile. The Allfather should have notified them of our arrival." The man was shaking and couldn't seem to get his tongue to work.

"I think you're frightening him," Loki said, placing a hand on Thor's shoulder and trying to get him to back off a bit. "Since Odin dropped us here, we are most likely close to where we should be to converse with the Olympians." Thor nodded.

"I agree, brother. Perhaps this structure may have a clue?" Thor said, pointing to the Empire State Building. Loki just shrugged and headed for the doors with Thor following him, leaving the poor bystander to reconsider the state in which he'd chosen to live.

"Excuse me, sirs," a guard said eyeing Thor and Loki up and down. "You guys can't go to the top of the building without purchasing a ticket."

"The Allfather neglected to mention this," Thor said, turning to Loki. "Were you given any of these 'tickets'?" Loki shook his head and held up empty hands.

"I don't even know what that is," he replied. Loki then faced the guard. "How do we acquire these… 'tickets'?"

"Well, you're going to have to wait in line and buy two." He motioned to a rather long line stretching from the sales counter.

"But we have business with the Greek gods in your establishment!" Thor cried, crossing his arms. "It would be dishonorable to keep them waiting when they have assembled to meet with us!" The guard just stared at Thor as if he'd sprouted another head.

"Look, I don't want to make a scene here. You two can either buy a ticket, or I'm calling the cops."

"Woah, that won't be necessary!" a voice rang out behind Thor and Loki. A young man wearing a business suit strode up to the guard with a brilliant smile. "These guys are with me, but they forgot their tickets at the studio and we had to have someone bring them." The man held up three tickets.

"I see…" the guard said, examining the tickets suspiciously. "And their outfits?"

"Oh, we work with a movie company and we're supposed to be doing a scene on top of a model of the Empire state building, but they wanted to see the actual thing first. You know, in character," the young man replied smoothly, explaining away Thor and Loki's odd speech. The guard looked at the three men, then at the tickets and then back to the men. He reluctantly motioned for them all to get on the elevator behind him. Once the doors had slid shut, Thor began to thank the man.

"We are in your debt," he beamed. "Loki and I both owe you for preserving our honor." Thor nudged Loki and the god of mischief grunted a reluctant agreement. The man in the business suit just sighed.

"What were you guys thinking asking for 'the Greek gods'?" he grunted. "To most people those things are myths! You are both _so_ lucky I was running late to the council."

"Are you a member of the council?" Loki asked, eyeing the man with curiosity. "You do not appear to be immortal." The man laughed.

"Appearances can be deceiving," he said cryptically. Loki rolled his eyes.

"I invented deceiving," Loki muttered under his breath. The doors slid open and they all exited.

"This is truly a magnificent structure and it has a wonderful view of Midgard!" Thor exclaimed, eyes wide.

"No time for sightseeing," the man in the suit said, motioning for the two gods to follow him. They were stopped a few times for pictures with tourists because of their outlandish outfits, but finally made it to a secluded and unremarkable door.

When the door opened, Thor and Loki were presented with a grand scene of creatures from Greek mythology and architecture from Greek times. The business man urged them to keep moving and they trudged along stone walkways toward a large open-air assembly chamber. Twelve thrones sat in a U and the business man told them to stay in the center of the chamber while he seated himself in the last unoccupied throne.

"You took your time getting here, Hermes," the man at the head of the thrones frowned. The man in the suit, Hermes, just shrugged.

"I was directing our guests. They looked a little lost," he replied, looking unconcerned about the man's irritation.

"So what are we doing here?" one of them asked, looking irritated. He was muscular and had a large scowl on his face and was picking dirt out from under his nails with a hunting knife.

"Don't you pay attention in meetings anymore, Ares?" a blonde man with headphones around his neck asked as he lazily flipped through songs on his iPod. "They're from As…something or other."

"Apollo, if you don't want me to wipe the grin off that smug little face of yours, I would suggest shutting up," Ares threatened. Said god just gave Ares a cheeky grin.

"Boys, stop it," a woman with stormy gray eyes reprimanded them. "We will not be able to continue the meeting if we all start arguing at the very start."

"Well, now I believe we all know why we're here," a man with dark hair said. He glanced at Thor and Loki. "You two were prominent in Norse mythology, correct?"

"Indeed, my Lord," Thor replied respectfully. "I am called Thor and I was known as the god of thunder." Zeus tensed up a bit at this but waited for them to continue. Thor turned to his brother who gave a long-suffering sigh.

"I am Loki, god of mischief and lies," the trickster said, looking bored.

"Our father, Odin, has sent us to Midgard so that we might learn responsibility after several unfortunate incidents in Asgard. Our powers are severely weakened and we were told that the council might determine where we should reside on Midgard." Zeus leaned back in his throne and seemed to be judging them before turning to the lady with gray eyes.

"What do you believe would be the wisest course of action, Athena?" Zeus asked.

"Since their powers are merely restricted, I believe they should be classified as demigods now, as that would make it easier for them to blend in," Athena replied, fixing the Thor and Loki with her calculating stare. "The best way for them to prove themselves would be at Camp Half-Blood."

"All opposed?" Zeus asked, looking at all the other Olympians. None raised their hands. "Then we are agreed… For once. Thor, you shall be known as my son because of your control over winds and thunder. Loki, you shall be known as a son of Hades for your skill in necromancy. You will both be transported to Camp Half-Blood immediately and Chiron will be informed of the situation. Council is dismissed."

Many of the Olympians got up or vanished into thin air after the declaration, except for Hermes. He strode toward the two demigods with a wide smirk on his face.

"Well, that went better than I expected," he said cheerfully. "I'll be taking you to Camp Half-Blood then, since I am the god of travel." He grabbed both of their arms lightly and in the next second they were standing outside a large blue building. Hermes let go of them and strode up the steps of the house. "I'll explain everything to Chiron, so just stay there. Oh, and remember: don't tell anyone about Asgard." The god disappeared through the doorway, leaving the brothers alone. They shifted uneasily as they watched the daily activities of the campers, who shot them quite a few odd looks for both their Asgardian clothing and sudden appearance with a god.

"What do you think of our current situation, brother?" Thor asked, turning to Loki. The god of mischief scowled.

"I do not wish to stay here any longer than necessary," Loki stated, glancing around with an expression of disdain. Thor nodded as if he'd expected that answer.

~~~~~Clint & Natasha~~~~~

"Do you know if we've arrived?" a twelve-year old Natasha Romanov asked an equally young Clint Barton. The archer shook his head.

"I can't see anything outside this car. They blacked out the windows." Natasha nodded and hugged her knees tighter to her chest.

"We've been in here for hours. Surely wherever we're going can't be that far away…" she muttered. Clint just shrugged, which is about as close to comforting her as he could get. Natasha's face flushed slightly when her stomach growled; she hadn't eaten in two days. She glanced around the dark, musty truck they were trapped in and tugged half-heartedly at the bonds securing her arms and legs.

"What do you think they want with us demigods?" Clint asked, leaning back against the truck's walls. "It's not like we can summon the elements or anything." Natasha nodded. It was quite odd that they had been kidnapped when their skills were only strategy, archery and possibly medicine when there were plenty of other demigods that were much more desirable. They were prevented from speculating further when the back doors swung open and a harsh light shone in, temporarily blinding the two demigods.

"Get out and start moving," a gruff voice commanded. Without giving them time to react, a pair of strong arms roughly grabbed the two children and threw them out the back. They both stiffened when they felt the point of a celestial bronze sword in the middle of their backs before they started shuffling forward as fast as their leg restraints would allow.

"This sucks," Clint muttered, earning himself a tired smirk from Natasha.

"Shut up, brat!" the guard yelled, smacking Clint on the back of the head. Though the smack made him wince, Clint gritted his teeth and refused to cry out in pain. They trudged further through brown grass, the sun beating down on them. Natasha thought for a brief moment that she might pass out from hunger and exhaustion.

After about twenty minutes of walking forward and being unable to raise their heads because of their restraints, they were stopped. Looking at the ground, Natasha could tell they'd reached a gray brick building and heard the guards muttering to another man who seemed to open a door. They were pushed forward again and marched into adjoining cells.

Finally, the restraints were removed, though they were now trapped in steel cages. The guards had disappeared without giving them any answers and leaving Natasha and Clint to stew in the inhumane conditions while working out their stiff joints. Natasha sat down on the lumpy mattress shoved in a corner of the cell to examine her surroundings.

Aside from what she was sitting on, there was a toilet (probably broken) in the other corner along with a sink that she doubted had running water. Above her head was a dim fluorescent light that flickered annoyingly. A quick glance at Clint's cell told her that his was equipped similarly. He sat on the ground so he could talk to Natasha through the bars.

"Any ideas on where we are?" he asked, peering around the dim cells for a clue. There were no windows and it smelled disgusting. Natasha just shook her head in disgust.

"The least they could do is bring us some water," she muttered, running a hand through her dirty red hair. She drew her knees up to her chest. "How did we get dragged into this?" Clint just gave her a sad look.

The next day Clint and Natasha were dragged from their cells by two masked men. Dragged mainly because they didn't even have enough energy to stand. Three days without food and little water tended to do that to an adult, let alone a twelve year-old. They were roughly dropped in an empty room with a dirt floor and no windows while the guards swung the only exit shut behind them. Natasha gazed at Clint questioningly and he just shrugged as they clambered to their feet. Both of them jumped when the dirt beneath their feet stared shifting.

"Is it an earthquake?" Natasha asked, despairing over the lack of protection they had from possible falling rubble.

"I don't think so," Clint replied, trying to see if any enemies were present. "The ground isn't shaking…" The sand sifted around to form the face of a sleeping woman in the dirt. She smiled at the young demigods in an unnerving way.

"Who are you?" Natasha cried defiantly, proud that her voice didn't betray how shaken she was.

"_How rude,"_ the woman's voice echoed around the room. _"Is that any way to speak to your mother?"_

"My mother is Athena," Natasha replied, glaring at the woman's sleeping face.

"_But I am your mother too, child,_" the voice responded. _"I am your first mother; the earth mother."_

"Gaea," Clint muttered, staring at the image with horror. "How? She's supposed to be asleep…"

"_Indeed,"_ the woman agreed with him. _"I have been asleep for a long time. A forced slumber. But I am beginning to regain my consciousness, though I fear I will not be able to make much more contact than this for many years."_

"Why did you bring us here?" Natasha asked, continuing to keep up her confident attitude.

"_I need your assistance,"_ Gaea replied. "_I must be aware of the actions taking place in a certain area. I need spies where they would be least expected."_

"And why should we help you?" Clint asked, crossing his arms. "Maybe you missed it, but your underlings haven't exactly been the most hospitable bunch." The entire floor beneath Clint and Natasha shook, knocking them off their feet. A seemingly bottomless crevice opened inches from where Clint fell and the son of Apollo gulped nervously.

"_Should you refuse to serve me, I will kill you here," _Gaea stated. The crevice resealed itself. _"Follow my orders and you will be rewarded."_ Natasha sent Clint an uneasy look. Clint seemed to understand what she was thinking: they really had no choice.

"We…don't have to kill anyone, right?" Natasha asked hesitantly. Clint seemed to be rejecting the notion with every fiber of his being, but at the same time he couldn't come up with any alternatives. Gaea seemed to laugh at their resignation, an awful chilling sound that would visit the children in their nightmares.

"_Not yet, but I cannot guarantee what course of actions you may need to take in the future. I am too weak in my current state to do anything except send you both where you need to go. For now you will simply keep me informed of everything that may happen."_ The two demigods looked at each other and reluctantly accepted Gaea's offer.

"Where are we going?" Clint asked, his tone full of helplessness and self-loathing.

"_Camp Half-Blood."_

~~~~~Bruce~~~~~

Nine year-old Bruce Banner ran into his room crying and slammed the door shut behind him loudly, the sound reverberating throughout the house. He collapsed on his bed and began sobbing, and only seconds later he heard his mother banging on his door.

"Bruce? What's wrong sweetie?" His mother's muffled voice could be heard through the wood. "Are the other kids teasing you again?"

"Go away!" Bruce yelled, burying his face in his pillow.

"Bruce Banner, unlock this door right now!"

"No!"

"I'm counting to three! One…Two…" Bruce hastily jumped up from his bed and went to go open his door. Despite having only nine years of experience in life, he knew nothing good happened whenever his mother got to three. "Oh, Bruce, honey," his mother said, kneeling down to look at his face. His eyes were red from crying.

"It's nothing," he muttered, wishing she would leave. His mother sighed heavily and wiped some of the tears from his eyes.

"Bruce, tell me what happened."

"It's nothing!" He looked away as he felt tears prickling in the corners of his eyes again. His mother didn't need to deal with his problems right now anyways. She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What did they say?" she asked quietly. Bruce knew the "they" she was alluding to. "They" were the jerks at his school that teased him for being a teacher's pet and reading books meant for people five times his age. "They" were the boys that shoved him off playground equipment at school and smacked his belongings out of his arms in the hallway. "They" were the bane of his existence.

"They didn't say anything," Bruce muttered.

"Okay, so what did they do?" she asked. The brunette silently cursed how well his mother knew him.

"They teased me for getting the answer right all the time in class and pantsed me before I could get on the bus," he mumbled, hoping his mother wouldn't hear him. Unluckily for him, she managed to make out what he was saying and her expression went from concerned to angry mother hen in the space of ten seconds.

"They didn't," she growled. "I'm going to the school right now. This is absolutely unacceptable." With that announcement she strode out the door, Bruce clinging to her dress.

"Don't!" he pleaded desperately. "You'll just make things worse!" His mother's expression seemed to soften fractionally, but she didn't stop reaching for her car keys. Just as she was about to leave, she turned around and knelt down to face Bruce.

"Listen to me," she said staring right into his eyes. "Those boys are just jealous because you are so smart and can calculate things that make their heads spin while they're still trying to figure out the difference between a triangle and a square. Bruce, don't ever let other people intimidate you because they're bigger or they outnumber you. You have a power they can't even begin to comprehend." She smiled as if she'd just given him some hint she wasn't supposed to and walked out the door.

The next day Bruce hadn't made ten minutes into recess before he found himself surrounded by the other boys again. He squared his shoulders and stood up to face the leader while trying to keep a brave expression on his face.

"What do you want?" he asked, disappointed that his voice betrayed him. The leader smirked and gave Bruce a light shove.

"Your mom told the principle on us," he said. "Guess you can't handle anything without running to your mommy."

"That's not true!" Bruce protested, only to be shoved again. His glasses fell off his face and one of the boys stepped on them, breaking the lenses. Bruce didn't have time to feel upset about them as he was pushed by the leader again.

"What are ya gonna do? Cry again?" The other boys began shoving him around too. Where was the teacher? Surely _someone_ was supposed to be monitoring them…

"Stop it!" Bruce yelled, trying to break out of the circle they had surrounded him in.

"Aw, I think he _is_ crying," one of the boys laughed.

"He's gonna run home again."

"Sissy."

"Stop it!" Bruce yelled again, only this time he felt different. More confident. His anger spiked and he felt ten times stronger than he did normally. It was only after the fact that Bruce realized he seemed to have been surrounded in a strange green glow.

"What…?" the other boy's eyes widened and they'd tried to run, but Bruce was faster and stronger. Better yet, he wasn't afraid. He shoved one of the boys and sent him flying into the bushes ten feet away. Another he picked up by the back of his shirt and tossed him at least eight feet in the air only for the boy to get stuck in a tree and dangle five feet off the ground. When Bruce caught the leader of the group, he'd punched him out in one hit.

This new feeling was both exhilarating and terrifying, like he was watching his actions play on TV without having any control. Seconds after he'd dealt out his payback, the feeling had faded and teachers had rushed forward to aid the students. Bruce panicked at what had happened and tried to help the kid out of the bushes, only to have the other boy flinch away from him and spit out a "Don't touch me!" The other kids outside and even some of the teachers had maintained their distance, all eyeing him warily.

"Monster."

"Freak."

"Beast." Bruce tried to shut out their words as everything around him swirled crazily. He could barely process what had just occurred and ended up running. He didn't know where he was going, but he couldn't stay there.

Somehow he made it home an hour later to find his mother standing at the stove and preparing that night's dinner. She immediately dropped what she was doing when she saw him and rushed to the door.

"Bruce," she said seriously. "What's wrong? Why are you home so early? Did something happen? The teachers didn't call…" He just clung to her for a few minutes but refused to open his mouth. His mother attempted to comfort him. "Bruce, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." The boy drew in a shaky breath.

"The boys at school," he began. He felt his mother tense up but she just pressed her lips in a firm line and didn't interrupt him. "They were pushing me and… I just got so mad. So I shoved one of them back and he flew into the bushes, and one landed in a tree and I knocked one out…I didn't mean to! I didn't even hit them that hard! And there was this green light everywhere! After all that I just ran home…" His mother hugged him hard.

"Bruce, I know what's happening, but before I can tell you, you have to promise me something," she said, staring at Bruce with a serious expression. "Promise me you won't ever, _ever_ fight someone for the sake of revenge again. Promise."

"I-I promise," Bruce stuttered, worried about how serious his mother was acting. Her face softened.

"Now that you've promised that, I need to tell you something I should have a long time ago." His mother sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She seemed older and more tired than he'd ever seen her before. "Bruce, I need to tell you about your father."

"The god of war?" Bruce asked, eyes wide. His mother nodded, a thin smile on her face.

"Yes," she replied. "I hoped that maybe, just maybe, if we came to a more crowded area it would be more difficult for monsters to get to you without attracting mortal attention. Maybe if you were unaware of the whole thing I could keep you here. But now I see how foolish I've been. Since you know now, it's not safe to stay here."

"We have to move?" he asked. His mother shook her head sadly.

"Bruce, I have to take you to somewhere safe. Somewhere where no monsters can get to you," she said.

"You're coming too, right?" Bruce asked, worrying about the response. She was his mother! She couldn't just leave him somewhere. Much to his dismay, she bit her lip and shook her head again.

"No, Bruce," she said, voice beginning to shake. "I am still a mortal and cannot go where you can. Please, don't fight me on this."

"But you can't leave me!" he yelled, feeling tears starting to build up.

"You can come home every summer," his mom said, trying to keep it together. "Please, Bruce. I have to be sure you're safe. Please don't argue with me." Bruce wanted to protest. He really did. But seeing his mom so sad, as if her heart was breaking in two, made him nod and leave to go pack a few of his things. He tried to tune out his mother's sobbing that he could still hear from his bedroom.

"Bruce, remember what you promised me," his mother said, not looking at him and gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles were white. "Don't fight for the sake of revenge."

"I won't," he muttered, staring at the large pine tree on top of the hill. His mother drew in a shaky breath as he climbed out of the car.

"One more thing," she said, right as Bruce was about to close the door. "What happened with the boys. The green aura." Bruce felt his heart rate pick up at the mention of that. "That state is dangerous," she told him. "If you stay in that form too long… there is a chance you'll never be able to turn it off. That is why I need you to stay out of fights, Bruce."

Bruce swallowed and it felt like a rock going down his esophagus. He gave his mother a weak nod. "Okay."

"Bruce?"

"Yeah, mom?"

"I love you, sweetie. Stay safe," his mother said before starting her car and driving off.

"I love you too, mom," he muttered, watching the black car grow smaller before disappearing.

~~~~~Steve~~~~~

"Hey, whatcha playing?" a bright voice asked Steve from somewhere to his left. Steve turned to see a young dark-haired boy looking at his trading cards.

"It's called Mythomagic," Steve replied, handing the cards over. "This kid who just got here today brought some and then I found out the store downstairs was selling them."

"That's so cool!" the kid exclaimed, eyes shining.

"There you are!" a girl, a little older than the boy he was talking to and obviously related, strode up to the table and seized the boy's arm. "I'm sorry," she apologized to Steve. "He wasn't bothering you, was he?"

"No, it's fine," Steve replied with a grin. She gave a lopsided, apologetic grin and walked away, dragging the protesting kid behind her.

"Can we at least go get some of those Mythomagic cards?" Steve heard the boy ask as he was taken away.

"Fine, Nico. But only if you promise not to randomly bother someone again!"

"Awesome! You're the best sister ever, Bianca!" Steve smiled as he watched them go.

"So how long have you been at the Lotus?" Nico asked, rifling through his cards. He and Steve had become quite good friends after meeting a couple of days ago.

"Oh, I don't know… a few days?" Steve replied, shrugging. He frowned a bit as he realized he couldn't remember exactly when or why he'd gone to the hotel, but he wasn't complaining.

"That's cool," Nico said, oblivious to Steve's inner confusion. "My sister and I just got here." Steve just shook his head to clear it and turned back to his cards. Nico had only learned the rules a few days ago, but he was already kicking Steve's butt at the game.

"Looks like you win again," Steve sighed, tossing his cards on the table in defeat. Nico beamed widely as he reshuffled his deck.

"I want to play another game," Nico said, handing Steve his cards.

"But you've won ten times already!" Steve protested. He was getting kind of embarrassed that a kid five years younger than him had beat him so many times.

"Please?" Nico asked, giving Steve his best puppy dog eyes. Steve blew out a mock frustrated breath and ran a hand through his hair.

"Fine," he relented, grabbing his cards. He grinned at Nico's cheering.

"Uh, excuse me, sir?" Steve awkwardly walked up to the front desk. "Have you seen Nico diAngelo? He's about this tall, black hair, dark clothing, loves playing Mythomagic? We were supposed to meet up today but I can't seem to find him anywhere and his room's empty." The receptionist raised his eyebrows but began clicking away at his keyboard.

"Ah, yes," the man said. "Mr. Nico diAngelo and his sister, Bianca, checked out the other day. The had to go to… Long Island in New York." It was Steve's turn to raise his eyebrows.

"Checked out? They were only here for a few days," he said, nonplussed. The man behind the counter looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Some…business must've come up," the man said. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Now if that's all, I have to get back to my work." Steve frowned as he was hastily dismissed.

Nico and his sister checked out? That was odd. The more Steve thought about it, the more he worried. As far as he could tell, no one ever checked out of the hotel. It was always the same parade of faces, never anyone new entering or exiting. His thoughts were soon banished when he caught sight of a new installation in the hotel and raced off to see it, his worries filed away in the back of his mind.

Three weeks later, Steve's old memories were revisited when he found an old Mythomagic card lying under his bed while he was looking for his other shoe. He held it up and frowned as he examined it. Who did it remind him of? A flash of a dark haired boy appeared in his mind's eye and he dropped the card in shock. That boy… Nico? That was his name, right?

Steve felt a cold chill of terror as he realized he'd almost forgotten one of the only friends he'd made at this hotel. He raced out of his room, through the hotel lobby and into the arcade, searching the sea of faces. Thoughts jumbled together in his mind. Memory loss. Unable to keep track of time. No one ever leaving. He finally just grabbed a passerby's shoulder and glared at him with a most likely deranged expression.

"What year is this?" he asked seriously, hoping that his theory would be disproven.

"Uh, I dunno, man," the nervous man stuttered, trying to squirm out of Steve's grasp. "1970?" Steve felt his stomach plummet.

"That's not possible," Steve muttered, releasing the man who scurried off. "It's 1940…" Without a second thought, he whirled on his heel and strode toward the lobby doors.

A timid –looking bellhop stood in front of them and seemed to cower a bit as Steve glared at him. "Sir, I can't allow you to leave."

"I don't think you have a choice," Steve snarled, pushing the man out of the way. He burst out the doors, only to have his jaw drop at the dramatic change from the inside.

Glowing neon signs lit the street and sleek cars zoomed by. Steve was jostled along in a fast-paced crowd of Las Vegas citizens and went along with the stream for a while, simply stunned by all the buildings that definitely WEREN'T there when he'd entered the hotel. The ads, buildings and people all seemed so different that his brain couldn't process everything at once.

A crumpled newspaper lay on the ground by his feet and he picked it up with shaking hands. The headlines shouted about events and politicians he had never heard of before and war that'd never been on the radio. He looked at the date printed at the top and his stomach lurched. If he thought the year 1970 was bad, he almost threw up when he saw 2013 staring back at him in bold font. That was when the world started spinning and Steve passed out.

Steve woke up when someone started shaking him gently.

"Hey, buddy. You okay?" the voice asked. Steve opened his eyes to see a concerned looking kid about his age staring at him.

"I…what happened?" Steve asked, looking around. His head felt fuzzy and the blinking lights surrounding him weren't helping. He remembered leaving his mother's house and then… there was a colorful building… and then he'd found the newspaper. Steve frowned as he realized he couldn't remember much past that. "What year is it?" he asked the teen.

"Uh, 2013," the kid replied. "Did you hit your head or something?"

"No," Steve muttered. "I'm fine…I just…don't belong in this time." Steve frowned at the unusual phrase, but felt in his gut that it was true. The other kid gave Steve a look that said 'you're starting to scare me'.

"Okaaaaay," the other boy said. "Listen, if you don't have any place to go, you can probably crash at my place for a while. My folks are out of town for the weekend."

"Thanks," Steve said, startled. "I don't want to impose on you though. Also, I think there's somewhere else I need to be." The phrase 'Long Island, New York' popped into his head.

"Well, if you need to get somewhere, there's a train station I can drive you to." Steve smiled gratefully. He worried for a second about money and shoved his hands in his pocket only to feel a plastic rectangle sitting there. He drew it out and saw it was a black card that he guessed passed as currency in this time period.

"If you don't mind, that'd be nice," Steve said, shoving the card back in his pocket. The other boy grinned and pointed to a large white pickup.

"Hop in!" he said cheerfully. Steve slowly got into the passenger seat and marveled at how unfamiliar the vehicle was.

"They didn't use to make them like this," Steve muttered, fastening the seatbelt. Where had that come from? Steve frowned and tried to remember what cars _had_ looked like in his time period.

"What do you mean?" the other boy asked, starting the engine. "This is a pretty old model. My dad got it in the '70s." Steve decided to just go with a shrug instead of provoking further questions by saying he was from the 1940s. The other boy might just drive him to an asylum instead of the station if he heard that.

"Nothing," Steve replied. "I'm sorry I haven't asked before, but what's your name?" He hastily switched topics.

"Bucky," the teen replied.

"I'm Steve." Bucky beamed at him and began the long drive to the train station.

**A/N: Oh my gods that was a long chapter... :P But I hope this gives you more insight into each character :) I tried to think up a story for each one and thus the plot thickens... Dun, dun, dun...  
**

**Now I wanted to address why I put each Avenger in the cabin I did :) (Sorry this wasn't in the last chapter)**

**Bruce: Ares cabin mainly cuz of the Hulk, but also because Bruce is a genius, kind of like Frank Zhang. Ares did say a man's best weapon is his mind...**

**Tony: I feel like this one is more of a "no, duh" but it's because Tony's good with machines and stuff.**

**Natasha: She's brilliant and deadly. It's like she had "Athena" stamped on her forehead.**

**Clint: Here's another "no, duh". Archery. Need I say more?**

**Thor: Well, he'd technically not a demigod, but thunder and stuff=Zeus.**

**Loki: Also not a demigod but he has power over the dead, so Hades cabin it is.**

**Steve: Okay, he's actually the only one I struggled with where to put him. I was originally considering Nike, the goddess of victory, but I wanted him to be the child of an Olympian. Hermes seemed to fit as the god is described as a "jack of all trades, master of none" and Steve tries his best in everything. Also, Hermes is the god of travel and Steve's certainly traveled a long way- about 70 years. :D**

**So that's all for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! Please review with your thoughts! Thanks! :D**


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